


Okay

by teikouarc



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, I am a fool, I came up with this au just to use the tag 'established shatt' but then I played myself, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, M/M, Trans Girl Pidge, it is not a Plot Point (tm) but pidge is a trans girl, keith and pidge bond over cryptids, made it a pre-relationship fic, pre shatt, she only goes by pidge as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 13:42:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8330050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teikouarc/pseuds/teikouarc
Summary: [This fic has been permanently abandoned.]--In which Shiro is a worried older brother and Matt is the good idea guy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> shiro and matt are both 19 in this, while keith is 11 and pidge is 9. this will hopefully be the first in a series of drabbles from this same au. hope you like it!

Shiro was doing an incredibly good impression of a sad puppy when Matt found him at their usual lunch spot. He reined in a fond smile as he dropped his sack lunch on the table between them, sitting across from the gloomy boy. Shiro looked up at Matt and gave him a little smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Matt propped his elbow up on the table and rested his chin against his hand before speaking. 

"You wanna tell me what's wrong now or after I give you pity sandwich? I think it's tuna today." 

Shiro's face turned mock thoughtful for a moment. "I _do_ like tuna." 

Matt snorted as he opened the bag and ripped his sandwich, handing one half to his friend. They ate their tuna in the usual lunchtime hum of the Garrison's commissary, occasionally throwing chatter about their morning lessons across the table. After they had made quick work of Matt's lunch, Matt raised his eyebrow meaningfully at Shiro, who simply sighed in response. 

"It's Keith." He said quietly, slouching forward to rest his chin against his hand too. Matt noted that it must be pretty bad if it had Shiro sacrificing his usually perfect posture. He pushed the trash to the side and leaned forward. 

"Did something happen? Is he okay?" He couldn't help the concern bleeding into the question. 

Shiro shook his head. "Yeah, I guess he is. I don't know, Matt. I’m just kind of worried about him. He doesn't seem like he's adjusting very well and I want to help, but I'm not sure how." 

"At school?" 

"Yeah. It doesn't seem like he's making any friends. But, you know, if he's not a social butterfly that's not a problem, but I'm concerned he's more withdrawn than usual lately? What if doing something makes him withdraw more though? I don't want him to feel like I'm pressuring him or anything--" 

"Shiro! Calm down." Matt reached out and touched his forearm gently, waiting until Shiro looked up at him to continue. "Being worried is natural. It's part of being an older brother. Keith is 11, right?" 

Shiro nodded. "He's in 6th grade." 

"Same grade as Pidge, then. Why don't you guys come over to our house? We can introduce them to each other. I can't guarantee they'd get along, but what's the harm in trying?" Matt couldn't help but think of Pidge. She had skipped first and second grade, and had been having similar problems in school. 

Apparently that had been the right thing to say. Shiro's eyes brightened as his eyebrows lifted in interest. "That's... a really good idea." He paused to think about it more, and eventually gave Matt a smile that left him reeling. "Thank you, Matt." 

Matt turned his head to the side to cough into his hand to hide the light blush that he could feel appearing on his cheeks. 

"What are friends for?" 

+ 

Keith stood anxiously next to Shiro as he knocked on the Holt's front door the following Saturday. "Why are we coming over here again?" He whispered at Shiro, heart beating frantically in his chest. 

"I wanted to introduce you to my friend Matt and his family. We're probably going to end up in the same flight crew when we graduate, so you'll meet him at some point anyway. Why not now?" Shiro gave him that smile that somehow managed to be simultaneously sly and reassuring. Keith hated that smile.

He grumbled as a muffled "Coming!" sounded from the other side of the door. He could think of plenty of reasons 'why not', but no one ever listened to the middle schooler. 

The door swung open to reveal a boy a few inches shorter than Shiro. He smiled widely at Shiro before turning the smile to Keith, who shrunk back a little bit at the attention. "Hey! Come on in." Matt stepped back and the two brothers walked into the house. Keith looked around, feeling a familiar sort of dread settle over him. The door swung shut and he wanted nothing more than to run back out of it. Meeting new people was not exactly his idea of a good time. Especially people who were important to Shiro. It sent him on edge and made him feel a combination of competitive and also unworthy. His brother was an incredible person and he was just... Keith. 

(He would rather die than let Shiro know he thought like that, though. Shiro would get upset if he knew that Keith thought lowly of himself. He didn't want to ever make him upset.) 

The boy who answered the door offered his hand to Keith, who took it suspiciously. "I'm Matt! You're Keith, right?" Keith nodded silently, taking the chance to size him up. He seemed nice enough. He followed Matt's hand as he gestured to the stairs behind him. "The kid on the stairs is my little sister, Pidge. She always sits up there when new people come over. She's not really rude, she just likes to feel tall." 

Keith looked on the stairs for her and found a pair of eyes staring at him owlishly from behind large, round glasses. Shiro and Matt started chatting as Keith and Pidge stared at each other silently. She was _really_ small with long hair the same color as Matt's. If it weren't for the hair length, she would look exactly like him, actually. He wasn't sure how long they were observing each other before he felt Shiro's hand settle down on his head to ruffle his hair. Keith made a small sound of protest and raised his arms to knock Shiro's hand away gently. 

"I'm going to go say hello to Matt's father. Why don't you go hang out with Pidge for a little while?" He suggested in his best fake casual voice. Unfortunately for him, his best voice was actually pretty awful. 

"Yeah, sure Shiro." He complied, voice only betraying a small amount of stiffness. He fought to keep his face neutral until Matt and Shiro left the entryway, letting it fall into an uncomfortable scowl when they were gone. He looked up at Pidge expectantly, and she shrugged. 

"We can go up to my room I guess." Which, in Keith's opinion, sounded like an awful idea, but he still toed his shoes off before padding up the stairs to follow Pidge to her room obediently. She turned into the room farthest down the upstairs hall, Keith stalling in the doorway awkwardly. Pidge continued into her room and sat down on the floor behind... some kind of mechanical... thingy. 

Her room was a disaster area, but from the mess immediately surrounding her, Keith could tell she had been in the middle of working on whatever that thing was when he and Shiro arrived. And apparently his presence wasn't going to stop her from continuing to work on it. She turned her attention away from Keith (who was perfectly fine with that, honestly) and to the tools scattered around her. 

"You can sit down anywhere. Or not. I don't really care." She said without looking up. 

Keith shuffled uncomfortably for a moment before walking in and settling down in the only clear floor space in the room which was a few feet in front of her and her project. The room was completely silent save for metallic clinking for maybe ten minutes before Pidge spoke up again. 

"Our brothers think we need friends." She glanced up for a moment, her unimpressed face expressing her thoughts on the matter pretty clearly. "They want us to be friends." 

Keith stared at her, appreciative that the elephant in the room had been addressed so plainly, but thrown nonetheless. "Yeah," he replied awkwardly, unsure of how she wanted him to respond. 

Apparently that wasn't enough. "So....?" She let the word trail off, looking at him expectantly. 

Keith shrugged helplessly, still not sure what she was looking for. "It's weird? I don't know anything about you?" 

Pidge nodded at that, seemingly pleased. She looked back down at her project. 

"So. What do you think about aliens?" 

+ 

Not even 40 minutes had passed when Shiro heard yelling coming from upstairs. He exchanged an alarmed look with Matt and apologized to Sam Holt before excusing himself from the conversation to check in on their younger siblings. 

"YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING! BIGFOOT BEING AN ALIEN IS PART OF MY THEORY, PIDGE." 

"Listen, all I'm saying is that the government is busy hiding the aliens, I didn't say ANYTHING about Bigfoot NOT being an alien!" 

Shiro stood in Pidge's doorway and stared at the kids arguing in disbelief. He heard Matt descending into hysterical laughter next to him. Keith turned around quickly to face them when he heard the laughter. "We're—Bigfoot." He stammered weakly, an embarrassed flush spreading across his face. 

Matt's laughter only grew more hysterical at that. Pidge threw a pillow at him, and Shiro thought that was pretty fair. He shook his head in exasperation at his friend and gave Keith a kind look. "You, um, keep at it then. Sorry for interrupting." He pushed Matt away quickly, making sure he was far enough away from Pidge's room to start laughing as well. 

"Oh my god." 

"You didn't tell me Keith liked those theories too!" Matt exclaimed, sounding nothing short of delighted. 

"I had no idea Pidge was into them. She's 9, Matt!" 

"Yeah, and she's probably already smarter than you." 

Shiro gave Matt a quick jab in the ribs for that one. 

He collapsed onto the Holt's sofa and let out a sigh of relief. It was rare to see Keith so animated with anyone. Even if it was over a topic that was slightly concerning to him, Shiro was glad to see he and Pidge were getting along.  He watched as Matt sat down next to him, smiling easily. Matt was close enough that their shoulders were pressed together, and if he shifted his knee just a little, they would be touching as well. Not quite ready to address that yet, Shiro shifted his arm so he could knock his knuckles against the back of Matt's hand. "Thanks for suggesting this." 

"I'm the good idea guy." He responded happily. They sat in a comfortable silence afterwards, listening to bits and pieces of Pidge and Keith's conversation drift down. Shiro closed his eyes, letting himself lean more heavily against Matt's shoulder. They hadn't had many moments like this recently, and he wanted to indulge in the quiet for as long as he would be allowed. 

Matt clearing his throat is what made him open his eyes again. "I know saying it isn't going to change anything, really, but..." He trailed off for a moment, gazing steadily at their hands, which were still touching. "You shouldn't worry too much about Keith. It might take time for him to figure out where he fits, but he'll find his place. Maybe he and Pidge will end up being close. Maybe not. Maybe Pidge will be his only friend. Maybe they'll find other people to argue about Bigfoot with.  Either way, he'll be okay. They'll both be okay. I mean, I _know_ you, so I know it is useless to tell you not to worry. I'm still saying it, though." Matt leveled an incredibly warm and affectionate smile at him, and Shiro felt warmth wash over him. His heart twinged with years of feelings he usually tucked away or ignored completely. Years of reasoning with himself that he couldn't bridge the last gap between him and Matt. He tucked those doubts away to agonize over later, and shifted his hand to hold Matt's. 

"You're right... I know you are. I've only ever had you, and I'm okay." He watched as Matt tightened his grip on his hand. Scratch that—he was more than okay.


End file.
